First time gaming PC Build

M

Mowgli

Member
Hi there,

My PCS laptop has recently died and is unfixable, therefore I am looking towards purchasing a tower.
I have a 1TB Samsung 2.5" SSD in the laptop currently which I believe will be compatible with the new tower.
My budget is around 2.5k for the tower, however, I do also have around 0.5k for peripherals (screen/keyboard etc).
The spec below is around what I'm after. I'm trying to make the system as future proof as possible. Please let me know what you would change and why.
Thank you!

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Eight-Core Processor i9-11900K (3.5GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z590-F GAMING WIFI (LGA1200, USB 3.2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR MP400 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 3480 MB/R, 3000 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Asus Xonar AE 7.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 PORT (1 x TYPE A, 1 x TYPE C) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £2,492.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z590-pc/b3PJHqV!fg/
 
S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Yeah mate no one is going to recommend Intel they are just not good processors right now in comparison to the AMD offerings

You have a very healthy budget though we can definitely help you get the most bang for your money
 
S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
This would be my recommendation

I'd be looking for a 1440p 144Hz ultrawide monitor to suit the GPU and then we can help with keyboards and mice too if you want suggestions

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £2,440.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/V4HuPQDfSV/
 
M

Mowgli

Member
Steveyg said:
This would be my recommendation

I'd be looking for a 1440p 144Hz ultrawide monitor to suit the GPU and then we can help with keyboards and mice too if you want suggestions

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £2,440.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/V4HuPQDfSV/
Click to expand...
Sweet, thank you for that. I am being biased with the Intel, it's all in the head really. Therefore, I am happy to bite my tongue and go for the Ryzen. Additionally, I didn't realise that the 3070Ti was cheaper than the 3070 currently. I've tweaked the build you've done. Removed the HDD and added a little bit more RAM. I think we're just about there now?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £2,453.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/3FDusRwJmE/
 
S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Yeah if you don't need the HDD then fine drop it

I noticed you reduced the frequency of the RAM though, Ryzen cpu's really need the fastest RAM they can get with the slowest I recommend being 3200Mhz. I wouldn't recommend dropping to 3000Mhz, I know it doesn't seem like a lot but it can impact the CPU

As for the Intel vs AMD debate, just do a bit of googling, Intel are basically were AMD where 10 years ago. Their roles have well and truly reversed unfortunately
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Steveyg said:
Yeah if you don't need the HDD then fine drop it

I noticed you reduced the frequency of the RAM though, Ryzen cpu's really need the fastest RAM they can get with the slowest I recommend being 3200Mhz. I wouldn't recommend dropping to 3000Mhz, I know it doesn't seem like a lot but it can impact the CPU
Click to expand...
Hadn't noticed that, 3200 minimum
 
M

Mowgli

Member
Steveyg said:
Yeah if you don't need the HDD then fine drop it

I noticed you reduced the frequency of the RAM though, Ryzen cpu's really need the fastest RAM they can get with the slowest I recommend being 3200Mhz. I wouldn't recommend dropping to 3000Mhz, I know it doesn't seem like a lot but it can impact the CPU

As for the Intel vs AMD debate, just do a bit of googling, Intel are basically were AMD where 10 years ago. Their roles have well and truly reversed unfortunately
Click to expand...
Whoops! £2,476 with 3200MHz RAM - so we're still within budget :) Thank yooou
 
C

CMP01

Enthusiast
Could tune up a tad more, maybe.

I'm not sure OP mentioned, but if primarily gaming (and maybe a little work on the side) then a 5800X would be future proof enough imo, until much better CPU's for that use are around, a couple of gens or so ahead. On the other hand, if the work/fun balance is the other way around, go higher now.
Aside from that, if gaming maybe higher speed RAM, if work maybe a little lower speed will do but more of it. For 1440p 144Hz a 3070ti is great with DLSS squeezing as much out of the refresh rate as possible, especially alongside RT, with the caveat of either being only in a few supported games out of potentially thousands as of yet (AMD has FSR, almost as good overall as DLSS rn but every chance of having higher uptake over time) but for longevity, again, I'd go higher (certainly if I saved a bit on the CPU as mentioned above) but that totally depends on several factors; which GPU architecture used, how often one would upgrade aso.
 
S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
CMP01 said:
Could tune up a tad more, maybe.

I'm not sure OP mentioned, but if primarily gaming (and maybe a little work on the side) then a 5800X would be future proof enough imo, until much better CPU's for that use are around, a couple of gens or so ahead. On the other hand, if the work/fun balance is the other way around, go higher now.
Aside from that, if gaming maybe higher speed RAM, if work maybe a little lower speed will do but more of it. For 1440p 144Hz a 3070ti is great with DLSS squeezing as much out of the refresh rate as possible, especially alongside RT, with the caveat of either being only in a few supported games out of potentially thousands as of yet (AMD has FSR, almost as good overall as DLSS rn but every chance of having higher uptake over time) but for longevity, again, I'd go higher (certainly if I saved a bit on the CPU as mentioned above) but that totally depends on several factors; which GPU architecture used, how often one would upgrade aso.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean mate the 5900x has more cores than the 5800x and also offers better single thread speeds. Games are moving closer and closer to multicore especially due the new console architecture so that's why I favour the 5900x is the budget is there. Warzone for example will use every core available to help with performance

On the RAM the Corsair Vengeance PCS use at 3200Mhz has a clock speed of CL16 and the 3600Mhz RAM has a clock speed of CL18. When it comes to gaming this makes them basically identical so there is no performance increase from the 3200Mhz and 3600Mhz that PCS supply
 
C

CMP01

Enthusiast
Steveyg said:
I'm not sure what you mean mate the 5900x has more cores than the 5800x and also offers better single thread speeds. Games are moving closer and closer to multicore especially due the new console architecture so that's why I favour the 5900x is the budget is there. Warzone for example will use every core available to help with performance

On the RAM the Corsair Vengeance PCS use at 3200Mhz has a clock speed of CL16 and the 3600Mhz RAM has a clock speed of CL18. When it comes to gaming this makes them basically identical so there is no performance increase from the 3200Mhz and 3600Mhz that PCS supply
Click to expand...

Games have been moving to big multicore for years now (among other hyped be all, end all things that are still not quite there) and still non Pro CPU's can handle anything in gaming, and plenty more besides. By the time enough games this (console) gen saturate current 8c/16t CPU's it'll be time for an upgrade anyway, to take advantage of new things once they've balanced aso. Sure, there might be a few outliers coming up but said CPU's have significantly higher speeds than either console as well. No PC build or buy is an ideal but cost effectiveness is a thing. Fwiw I'd go one down on the CPU and (maybe) one up on the GPU as that's where, on average, gaming perf excels... and declines first/fastest (and I play plenty CPU heavy games, though they barely test my 5800X while my 6800XT is getting very well used) By your reasoning a 5600X must be trash tier instead of selling like hot cakes as the best overall gaming CPU rn. For longevity one tier up from that is well enough, yes... except for possible odd outliers... but it's always been a fools errand to buy and/or pay more for slight uplift in just one or two games, especially over the longer term.
 
S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
CMP01 said:
Games have been moving to big multicore for years now (among other hyped be all, end all things that are still not quite there) and still non Pro CPU's can handle anything in gaming, and plenty more besides. By the time enough games this (console) gen saturate current 8c/16t CPU's it'll be time for an upgrade anyway, to take advantage of new things once they've balanced aso. Sure, there might be a few outliers coming up but said CPU's have significantly higher speeds than either console as well. No PC build or buy is an ideal but cost effectiveness is a thing. Fwiw I'd go one down on the CPU and (maybe) one up on the GPU as that's where, on average, gaming perf excels... and declines first/fastest (and I play plenty CPU heavy games, though they barely test my 5800X while my 6800XT is getting very well used) By your reasoning a 5600X must be trash tier instead of selling like hot cakes as the best overall gaming CPU rn. For longevity one tier up from that is well enough, yes... except for possible odd outliers... but it's always been a fools errand to buy and/or pay more for slight uplift in just one or two games, especially over the longer term.
Click to expand...
The 5600x is incredible, it's what I would recommend in it's level of budget

We also recommend GPU's based on what monitors will be used not based on budget. I certainly would never compromise a build for a GPU as it's the component that gets changed the most.

In 5 years you'll likely still have the same CPU but you wont have the same GPU if you get my thinking. We build based on budgets and longevity with the goal of trying to predict what the market will look like 5 years down the line.

The new consoles are pushing heavily on the multicore side with both having 8 cores and at the end of the day games are made for consoles first as much as we might dislike it. So it's important to try to account for that, hence my recommendation for a 5900x over the also excellent 5800x. Both are top tier I actually call the 5800x THE gaming cpu for a reason, but if the budget is there and we're talking long term the 5900x is better

As for moving up in GPU that also means moving up on monitor. The 3080 for example would need a monitor like the Samsung G9 to get the use so now were into the range of £1000 monitors which will massively inflate any build cost.

If that's what you want to do then fine I don't disagree I just disagree with compromising the longevity of a build for the likes of a GPU
 
M

Mowgli

Member
Steveyg said:
The 5600x is incredible, it's what I would recommend in it's level of budget

We also recommend GPU's based on what monitors will be used not based on budget. I certainly would never compromise a build for a GPU as it's the component that gets changed the most.

In 5 years you'll likely still have the same CPU but you wont have the same GPU if you get my thinking. We build based on budgets and longevity with the goal of trying to predict what the market will look like 5 years down the line.

The new consoles are pushing heavily on the multicore side with both having 8 cores and at the end of the day games are made for consoles first as much as we might dislike it. So it's important to try to account for that, hence my recommendation for a 5900x over the also excellent 5800x. Both are top tier I actually call the 5800x THE gaming cpu for a reason, but if the budget is there and we're talking long term the 5900x is better

As for moving up in GPU that also means moving up on monitor. The 3080 for example would need a monitor like the Samsung G9 to get the use so now were into the range of £1000 monitors which will massively inflate any build cost.

If that's what you want to do then fine I don't disagree I just disagree with compromising the longevity of a build for the likes of a GPU
Click to expand...
Not that I know nearly as much as either of you, however, in the end, I am happy with the 5900x as it is within budget especially if it will prevent bottlenecking in the future.

Quick question on monitors though, I've found that ultrawides don't come in a size smaller than 34". I'm looking at the Samsung G5 34" ultrawide but I must say that it's far too big to justify on the current desk I've got. Will the 1440p U-WQHD really make a seriously big difference compared to a 1440p WQHD (justifiable to the extent that I will have to buy a new desk too)?
 
BlessedSquirrel

BlessedSquirrel

We love you Ukraine
Mowgli said:
Not that I know nearly as much as either of you, however, in the end, I am happy with the 5900x as it is within budget especially if it will prevent bottlenecking in the future.

Quick question on monitors though, I've found that ultrawides don't come in a size smaller than 34". I'm looking at the Samsung G5 34" ultrawide but I must say that it's far too big to justify on the current desk I've got. Will the 1440p U-WQHD really make a seriously big difference compared to a 1440p WQHD (justifiable to the extent that I will have to buy a new desk too)?
Click to expand...
Monitor doesn’t stand on the desk these days so desk size is irrelevant. Just get a desk mount. You could happily fit an 80” TV on a 1ft desk.
 
M

Mowgli

Member
SpyderTracks said:
Monitor doesn’t stand on the desk these days so desk size is irrelevant. Just get a desk mount. You could happily fit an 80” TV on a 1ft desk.
Click to expand...
I get that but with the desk I've got - if I centre the 34" screen to the sitting position of the desk, 1/4 of the screen will be seen to be protruding past the edge of the desk... Not very pleasing, aesthetically.
 
C

CMP01

Enthusiast
Mowgli said:
I get that but with the desk I've got - if I centre the 34" screen to the sitting position of the desk, 1/4 of the screen will be seen to be protruding past the edge of the desk... Not very pleasing, aesthetically.
Click to expand...

Can see your point, tidy aesthetics are kind of... comforting, for want of a better term.

On the other hand, if you've never experienced UW before you'll love it and I doubt you'll want to go back. I couldn't (except to play on my TV from the sofa, a rare thing admittedly, but it being 55" not so big a loss compared to a smaller standard ratio monitor) and actually specced both my PC's and their areas in the last 10 years for 21:9 (2560x1080 then 3440x1440) plus a little overhead.
 
M

Mowgli

Member
CMP01 said:
Can see your point, tidy aesthetics are kind of... comforting, for want of a better term.

On the other hand, if you've never experienced UW before you'll love it and I doubt you'll want to go back. I couldn't (except to play on my TV from the sofa, a rare thing admittedly, but it being 55" not so big a loss compared to a smaller standard ratio monitor) and actually specced both my PC's and their areas in the last 10 years for 21:9 (2560x1080 then 3440x1440) plus a little overhead.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this. I guess I will be buying a new desk soon then! Will definitely be going for an UW :)
 
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